Violent weekend leaves 3 dead in Toronto & Hamilton

A violent weekend has left three people dead and eight others wounded in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

On Friday night, a woman in her 20s was shot and killed inside an apartment on St. Dennis Drive, near Don Mills Road and Eglinton Avenue East.

One man is in custody. Police believe the shooting may have been accidental.

Early on Sunday morning, one man died after being stabbed and a second was also stabbed at a Tibetan New Year’s party at the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre in Etobicoke. It happened around 3:30 a.m. Islington Avenue and The Queensway. Police are asking witnesses to come forward.

A few hours later, a man collapsed and died at a gas station near Danforth and Greenwood avenues. Police believe the incident began with a fight in a nearby home. Police say the death is suspicious. No arrests have been made.

On Sunday afternoon, an 18-year-old man entered the Calvary Church in Toronto’s east end and stabbed a 25-year-old man sitting next to him. The victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and the teen was restrained by other parishioners before police arrested him. Yonatan Tesfaldet of Brampton faces attempted murder, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon dangerous to public peace. He was scheduled to make a court appearance on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, a Mississauga woman was stabbed in what Peel police say was an unprovoked and random attack. She was out for a walk in the McLaughlin Road and Eglinton Avenue West area just before 6 a.m. on Sunday when she was approached by a man and stabbed once in the stomach.

And the province’s Special Investigation’s Unit is probing a Hamilton stabbing that left five people injured. Four people were stabbed and the suspect was allegedly injured during a pursuit by police.

The SIU said just before 10 p.m. Saturday, police were flooded with 911 calls about a multiple stabbing at an apartment building near Parkdale Avenue and Barton Street, in the city’s east end.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency which investigates cases involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of wounded. The number of victims is eight.